Magic Mile Power Rankings: Talladega

Race 10 - Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway

Monday, May 6, 2013

Weather played a huge factor on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, prolonging a race to over seven hours.
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How about that race on Sunday? It took over seven hours to determine a winner, and in the end it was a pair of Front Row Motorsports cars finishing 1-2 in one of the craziest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in recent memory.

David Ragan used a push from teammate David Gilliland on the final lap to overtake Carl Edwards and find victory lane for the second time in his career. The one-time Roush Fenway driver was ecstatic after the race, but he was one of the few with a smile on his face after a race that has created as much controversy as it has excitement.

Here's a look at the Magic Mile Power Rankings* heading into Race 10 at Darlington Raceway on May 11:

1. Matt Kenseth - Might catch a little flack around the office for this one, but he's led 52 percent of the last 859 laps over the last three races. And he hasn't shown any signs of slowing down after a 50-point penalty looked like it had all the makings of the kind of infraction to ruin an entire season. Right now, the No. 20 is the favorite to win it all.Previous ranking: Second, +1Consecutive Weeks in MMPR: 8

2. Jimmie Johnson - It was another solid top-five for the 48 team, and had Kenseth not led a ridiculous 142 of the 192 laps - en route to an eighth-place finish on Sunday - Five-Time would probably be on top of the MMPR for a third straight week. Johnson did lead the second-most laps at Talladega with 16 (further prove of how dominant Kenseth was).Previous ranking: First, -1Consecutive Weeks in MMPR: 10

3. Carl Edwards - Had NASCAR decided not to restart the race then the 99 would have been celebrating his second win of the season. But NASCAR did restart the race after a three-hour break, and Edwards was still right there at the end. The knock on Cousin Carl this year has been consistency. Well, back-to-back top-10s certainly put an end to that criticism.Previous ranking: Fifth, +2Consecutive Weeks in MMPR: 9

4. Brad Keselowski - The descent continues for Bad Brad, whose 15th-place finish on Sunday placed him outside the top 10 for a second straight week. But to put that in perspective, the last time Keselowski had back-to-back finishes outside the top 10 was June of last year when he finished 13th at Michigan and 12th at Sonoma.Previous ranking: Third, -1Consecutive Weeks in MMPR: 10

5. Kasey Kahne - Hard to penalize a guy too much that was running inside the top 10 until a gaffe by Kyle Busch (see below) ended his day.Previous ranking: Third, -1Consecutive Weeks in MMPR: 6

6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Junior got caught up in a mess early on and did an admirable job avoiding "The Big One" late in the race and was rewarded with a respectable 17th-place finish. But it's been over a month since Junior's last top-10, he's getting the benefit of the doubt here that this is just a bad-luck funk.Previous ranking: Seventh, +1Consecutive Weeks in MMPR: 9

7. Clint Bowyer - Another top-10 car that got caught up in "The Big One," Bowyer salvaged the day in 18th, but it was a disappointing finish for a pilot that's two of last six races at Talladega.Previous ranking: Ninth, +2Consecutive Weeks in MMPR: 2

8. Aric Almirola - It's time to start taking the 43 a lot more seriously. Make that four straight top-10s for Double A, equaling his top-10 total from 2012. It's been a total team effort, too, with Almirola typically working his way from the middle of the pack with a 20.4 average starting spot, which ranks 27th in Cup.Previous ranking: Ninth, +1Consecutive Weeks in MMPR: 2

9. Martin Truex Jr. - Outside of tough day at Richmond, Truex has been one of the best drivers in Cup over the last four races, scoring his third top-10 in that span on Sunday. Only four drivers have led more laps than Truex this season ... now if he can only find a way to finish a race out front.Previous ranking: N/A, +1Consecutive Weeks in MMPR: 1

10. Kyle Busch - Rowdy's got one more week to figure things out. The last two weeks might have come down to bad luck, but Talladega's debacle came down to a bad decision - one that he owned up to, so that kind of integrity earns him at least one more week in the MMPR.Previous ranking: Eighth, -2Consecutive Weeks in MMPR: 7

Wave Around: David Ragan - Heck of an effort, especially when you consider he was nowhere to be seen when the white flag was flying.

Bonus Points: Air Titan - NASCAR's track-drying invention gets a big pat on the back for even making Sunday's fabulous finish possible.

Dropped out of the MMPR: Greg Biffle.

*This list is comprised of drivers that compete in the Sprint Cup Series on full-time basis.